Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: bomb threat, HRL, minecraft, VeltPvP, video games and violence

Minecraft Server Rivalry Leads to 400 Bomb Threats Against UK Schools

Published Tue, 20 Mar 2018 09:45:47 -0500

A Minecraft server rivalry has led to a rash of over 400 bomb threats being leveled against many schools in the UK. While the threats were labeled a hoax, local law enforcement did look into the threats as well as the emails, which originated from the United States.

As Kotaku reports on the situation:

Over 400 institutions were affected, according to the newspaper Express, which reported that many schools evacuated their students upon receiving the emails threatening bombings.The Northumbria Police department later issued a statement confirming the incident was a hoax. "Detectives have looked into the emails – which appear to originate from the US – and can confirm that there is no viable threat," the department said. Other police departments issued similar statements.

A report by Sky News says the reports were "spoofed" to look like they were coming from VeltPvP, a Minecraft server site, apparently in an attempt to get the site's domain suspended. Sky News also claimed to have spoken to one of the perpetrators of the hoax, who told the outlet they made the threats in retaliation for what they said were DDoS attacks carried out by VeltPvP against other Minecraft sites. Over 24,000 individual emails were sent out as part of the hoax.